Punting block for football shoes



June 25, 1957 M. H. MONTGOMERY PUNTING BLOCK FOR FOOTBALL SHOES Filed Feb. 2, 195a United rates i atertt I PUNTING BLUCK FQR FSGTBALL SHOES Maxson H. Montgomery, Long Beach, Calif.

Application February 2, 1956, Serial No. 553,104

1 Claim. (Cl. 36-25) This invention relates to a punting block for football shoes whereby the kicker of a football is assisted in directing the ball, since my punting block tends to prevent the football from glancing off of the foot at an angle to the side and thus reducing the effective length of the punt. My punting block tends to direct the football in a forward direction from the kicker, thus inc-reasing the effective length of the kick.

An object of my invention is to provide a punting block or .attachment or shoe construction consisting of a substantially flat platform positioned at the instep of the shoe, and thus providing a substantially flat horizontal surface which strikes the football and directing the ball in a true forward path.

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel punting block of the character stated, which may be mounted on either the outside of the left or the right shoe, or may consist of one or two blocks extending entirely across the instep of the shoe and being thus positioned on both the outer and inner side of the shoe.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a novel punting block attachment which can be laced to the shoe at one edge thereof and attached to the sole of the shoe or to the cleats thereon at the lower edge of the 'block.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a novel punting block for football shoes which can be easily mounted on the usual and well known type of shoe and which is held securely in position by means of the usual laces of the football shoe, as well as by means of one or more straps which partly or entirely encircle the sole of the shoe.

Still another object is to provide a novel punting block which is so shaped on the inner surface thereof that it will conform to the shape of the outside of the shoe at or adjacent to the instep area of the shoe, thus providing a block which will not shift or move during the impact occasioned by kicking a football.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from the accompanying drawing, the subjoined detailed description and the appended claim.

In the drawing:

'Figure 1 is a side elevation of a punting block positioned on a football shoe.

'Figure 2 is atop plan view of the same.

*Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a front elevation of a modified form of punting block involving two blocks positioned one on each side of a shoe.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the usual football shoe consists of an upper 1, a sole 2, and the usual lace flaps 3 and 4 which extend substantially to the toe cap of the shoe. The lace opening of the shoe is thus spaced from the front edge of the shoe approximately two inches more or less, and this opening is crisscrossed by the laces 5 in the usual and well known manner. A number of cleats 6 are also mounted in the iQQf either leftor right-handed, that is, it is positionedon i the outside of either the right shoe or the left shoe. The

punting block 7 is preferably made of molded rubber or plastic and is suitably reinforced with fabric so that it will be substantially rigid and fixed in shape. The upper surface 8 of the punting block is fiat and of considerable width and length, substantially as shown. When the pun-ting block is used as an attachment to a standard and well known football shoe it is formed with an inner surface 9 which conforms substantially to the outer shape or surface of the shoe. A flap 10 is preferably integrally formed with the block 7, and this flap extends under the sole 2 of the shoe and one of the cleats 6 extends through a hole in the flap, thus holding the flap securely in position and thereby holding the block 7 against upward movement. The inner edge of the block 7 is provided with a plurality of spaced holes or eyelets 11 through which the lacing 5 extends. The lacing is preferably looped over the top of the surface 8 of the block 7, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, thus tending to draw the block downwardly into close engagement with the flap 3 of the shoe and securely mounting the block so that it will not shift or move in any respect during the impact of punting. When the lacing 5 is tightly drawn the inner surface 9 of the punting block will also be pulled against the outer surface of the shoe and thus again securely holding the punting block in position. The forward edge of the punting block is spaced from the toe cap or the front edge of the shoe and the rear edge of the block 7 extends to approximately the instep. Thus a block of considerable length is provided and the upper surface 8 is substantially horizontal so that the kicker is provided with an enlarged flat surface to strike the football instead of the rather narrow instep surface of the shoe. Furthermore, since the block 7 is placed on the outside of the shoe the ball will be prevented from defiecting from the shoe at an angle to the kicker and thus tending to kick the ball out of bounds instead of forwardly. My punting block will also increase the average distance achieved by a punter due primarily to the increase of the flat surface available for impact against the ball.

In Figure 4 I have shown a modified form of my invention in which I provide two punting blocks 12 and 13 which are positioned one on the outside and one on the inside of the shoe. The punting blocks 12 and 13 are each provided with flat upper surfaces 14 and 15, respectively, thus providing a flat surface across the entire instep area of the shoe, instead of on the outside only, as previously described. The inner edges of the punting blocks are laced to the shoe by the usual lacing 16, in the same manner as previously described. One or two flaps 17 are formed at the lower end of the blocks 12 and 13, and the cleat 6 extends through the flap or flaps for the purpose of holding the lower edges of the blocks. The shape and construction of the punting blocks is substantially the same as the block previously described. The inner and lower edges of the blocks 7, 12 and 13 are thin enough so that they will bend or conform to the shape of the shoe at these points, while the main body of each of the blocks is sufficiently heavy so that the block will not deform while striking the football.-

Having described my invention, I claim:

A punting block for football shoes having cleats removably mounted in the sole of the shoe, said block being e :3 r positioned on one side of the shoe and spaced from the toe and extending to the instep of the shoe, said block including a substantially flat upper surface engageable with a football to propel the same, a flap extending from the lower edge of the block and extending downwardly and under the sole of the shoe, said flap having a hole therein through which a cleat extends to secure the flap against the sole of the shoe, said block having lacing holes therein adjacent the inner edge thereof and adjacent lacing holes in the football shoe, the shoe laces of the football shoe being threaded through both the lacing holes in the shoe and the lacing holes in the punting block.-

Refe

rences Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Golden Oct. 9, 1906 Ice Mar. 22, 1932 Hyde Dec. 8, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain July 22, 1893 Great Britain Apr. 28, 1900 

